Last night my in-laws gave me a pair of Arisakas that my wife's grandfather brought back from Korea. One was really jammed up and I only got the bolt free this morning, the other cycled just fine. My google-fu has me thinking the rifle is a 38 and the carbine is a 99. The rifle had its mum ground off but the carbine's just has 2 hash marks through it. I'm thinking the rifle would be 6.5x50 and the carbine is 7.7x58. Is there anything I should check on them before trying to fire them? They appear to be in good working condition, some rust here and there and definitely not show grade, but completely serviceable.













*Edit*
My google-fu was weak, I had the model numbers reversed.

Pie





There arisakas

Nice.  Don't get your ammo mixed up.  6.5mm will fire out of the 7.7mm chamber, but the brass will split.

Both of your Arisaka's are considered rifle length even though the Type 99 is shorter.  Top rifle is a zero series Type 38 made by the Tokyo arsenal that later became Kokura. It has a mis matched bolt and is chambered in 6.5 Jap. The bottom rifle is a 2nd series Type 99 made by Nagoya. It appears to have a matching bolt and is missing the wings that were normally attached to the rear sight for use against aircraft. It is chambered in 7.7mm Jap.Both rifles count as  having defaced Mum's because among collector's they count the same whether its a single chisel strike or a complete removal by a belt sander. Both  rifles should have the last 3 digits of the serial number on all major parts. If your Type 99 is all matching then its a very nice find. Your  Type 38 could be a bolt mis match where everything matches except the bolt. It was common for this to happen to rifles being brought back from the war by G.I.'s  Hope that helps.

Thanks for the info. The numbers on the 38 are all different, the 99 is matching on every number I can find. Is the 99 a short then and not the carbine? Any ideas on where to get 7.7 and 6.5?

Usually the bolt # on a Early type 38 is a assembly # not the last three of serial #. Check floor plate and bands etc to see if they match the bolt assembly #

It is considered just a rifle, after WW1 service rifles of all nations got shorter due to war time experience. There is a longer version of the Type 99 with barrel the samelenght as a T38 but it was not made long and is uncommon to find today. As far as ammo, that's a tough one as both calibers are hard to find. I've had luck at big box stores like Cabelas and Bass Pro and I've also found it digging through those bins of old ammo you see at gun shows. Expect to pay 30-35$ per box of 20, I finally gave up and bought the dies to reload 7.7mm.

Good gift. I would do some research on the relative they came from. It's nice to have a history behind a family piece like those. I second reloading for them. Factory ammo is just too much. You can make 7.7 out of 30.06, .270 and 8mm brass. I have done it with great results using .311 bullets and Varget powder. I'm gearing up for 6.5 so I don't have much info to share.

I have heard good reviews about Mr. Nambu. He was selling loaded ammo and components.
http://www.macsguns.com/index.html

The numbered parts on a T-38 should match the # on the bottom of the barrel......near the chamber area......not necessarily the serial # on the side of the rifle...